I cover all things luxurious and eye-catching for ForbesLife, with a special interest in designs that are both practical and beautiful--though I wouldn't turn down an exceptional chocolate, nightlife or fragrance story. My background includes writing about interior design for Architizer and working in the editorial department at Good Housekeeping. And when I need a break from reality, I enjoy writing novels.

Beauty Brand 'Philosophy' Supports Mental Health With New Initiative

One brand of beauty products isn’t afraid to shed some light on the importance of internal well-being. In July, the skin care company philosophy announced that by January 2015, 1% of all sales across all products will go to community-based mental illness prevention and treatment organizations worldwide, through its hope & grace initiative.

With this money, philosophy’s new fund will award grants to hundreds of carefully vetted mental health organizations targeted toward women, the anticipated average grant amount being $25,000. In five years time, the initiative is projected to contribute more than $10 million to the cause. It launched on July 15, 2014 for online product sales, and the first grant has already been awarded to Bring Change 2 Mind, an anti-stigma organization co-founded by actress Glenn Close.

The company’s SVP Jill Scalamandre explains the connection between their products and this new practice: “More than any other issue, mental well-being is directly connected to the spirit of the philosophy brand. Our products have always been ‘wrapped’ in insight and inspiration, so we can encourage beautiful days as well as beautiful skin. By dedicating a portion of the sale of every product at all times, we can be confident that the contribution we are making is significant and that we’ll be able to further empower her from the inside out.”

While the fund will provide essential monetary aid to key organizations, a major part of this initiative is raising awareness and helping to remove the stigmas associated with mental illnesses. John Campo, chair of the department of psychiatry at The Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center, uses Robin Williams as an example to refute misleading stereotypes: “Robin Williams is someone who was very appealing. His death puts some cracks in the notion that people who have mental illness are different from you and me, and opens up the opportunity for dialogue about mental illness.”

According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, 25% of American adults experience mental illness in a given year – anxiety and depression being the most common ailments – and 6% live with serious conditions such as schizophrenia, major depression or bipolar disorder. As these statistics reflect, mental health disorders are among the most prevalent afflictions in our society, which makes it all the more concerning that 60% of sufferers did not receive treatment in the past year, according to a 2013 report by the National Institute of Mental Health.

In addition to the stigmas and negative stereotypes attached to mental illnesses, it doesn’t help that they’re no fun to talk about. Really, who wants to talk about something like depression? That sounds depressing! But philosophy’s initiative reminds us why it’s crucial to keep such discussions in the limelight.

In a recent video posted by ALS patient Anthony Carbajal, the 26-year-old patient says: “I hate talking about it [ALS]. I really hate talking about it. That’s probably why nobody talks about it, because it’s so challenging to watch and to see and to talk about.” But he is thankful, to the point of tears, for the awareness and donations that have been raised over the past month thanks to the Ice Bucket Challenge. So while campaigns against ailments such as ALS, Breast Cancer and mental illnesses may make us uncomfortable, they force us to educate ourselves, and being educated might mean the difference between seeking help or staying silent.

Scalamandre explains that mental illnesses are too widespread to ignore: “It is alarming that few people choose to openly discuss the issue when so many experience symptoms on a daily basis. Philosophy has always been a brand about empowering women, and it is important that we support one of the greatest challenges facing women today.”

Self-help books may bring to mind didactic tones and quixotic advice, but it’s hard to deny the veracity of one principle that Stephen Covey explains in his bestseller, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. He postulates that we all have circles of concern, filled with issues we cannot control and circles of influence, filled with issues we can control. Covey argues that the proactive person will focus his or her attention in the circle of influence, not the circle of concern. While we can’t control our predispositions as humans, philosophy is making a proactive choice as a brand by working within its circle of influence. The hope is that sufferers of mental illness will do the same by seeking help in order to overcome a condition. By empowering the organizations that provide this sort of aid to women, this new initiative reminds us that beauty is something that comes from the inside out.

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I support this mental health new initiative from Philosophy and would encourage community organisations working on improving mental health in Islington, Camden and across London to apply for a grant of $25,000 from the Philosophy’s New Fund. We need a new global approach in regards to mental health. That is why we need to raise awareness and educate people about mental health to tackle stigma, prejudice and discrimination that people with mental health condition suffer. This is a real health issue globally as one in four will suffer mental health condition. We can’t ignore this anymore and that is why I urge governments around the world to focus more on mental health and improve mental health legislations to be fit for the 21st century and also to increase their funding for mental health treatment, research and advocacy to make much needed progress on addressing properly mental health to achieve worldwide health equalities.

As Bipolar Type one and being 44 now I know what is dealing with depression, getting in, getting out melancholia, three times… recovering three times I wrote a book called A Different Outlook on Bipolar disorder – Ups and Downs to Buddha State available on amazon Kindle, Paperback on lulu.com You all have to know THAT GETTING OUT FROM A DEPRESSION IS POSSIBLE when you are in it is nearly impossible to believe that, and that people recover most of the times from a depression or even from a melancholia episod

Never forget it and take courage

BENJAMIN NEMOPODE A Different Outlook on Bipolar disorder – Ups and Down to Buddha State available on amazon Kindle, Paperback on lulu.com